[Mainland Chinese Drama 2019] Heavenly Sword Dragon Slaying Saber 倚天屠龙记

[Don Yu]

Beautiful song when

Spoiler

the parents marrying themselves

in Episode 3.

Who sings it? What's the song?

[arcchidus]

Oh this is tough 3 days a week only! This will take forever to broadcast!

[arniechow]

Loving this version so far.

 

   I'm a huge fan of  how they showed the interaction among the characters such as  those between Wuji and the Wudang uncles and the teacher. I feel like it makes the show more "humane" (not sure if this is the right term,  but it mades the show more heartwarming -- ar least so far). 

 

Also looove the cinematography and the landscape ,  it feels like movie.

 

I also like the casting choice so far.  All the actors and actresses are great looking and most of them act quite well too ( my fav: Yang Xiao, Yin Ye Wang, Zhang San Feng,  Wudang 7 heroes,  and young Wuji). Love how they also put more focus on the minor characters. 

 

However, I am really annoyed with the slo-mo fight sequence .

[Don Yu]

19 hours ago, Don Yu said:

Beautiful song when

  Reveal hidden contents

the parents marrying themselves

in Episode 3.

Who sings it? What's the song?

Anyone? Please, that's a beautiful song I like to listen more on it's own.

[caranita]

I've seen only up to ep 2. The colors turn out to be much better than I expected. Judging from the trailer, I was worried  they would be vivid for my liking, but thankfulness they are earthy and muted, with just some splashes of appropriate brightness. I just wished they'd toned down Yin Susu's lip color. 

 

Agree with @Don Yu about the choreography. The first episodes of LoCH 2017 showed pretty good fighting scenes with minimum CGI, but in Ep 1 of HSDS has brought forward some CGIs and TOO MANY slow-mos. 

 

But my first impression may change when I see more episodes, as I've read praising comments here and in a couple of other forums and blogs. It looks like they fleshed out some of the side characters, but in a way that actually add values to the story. Will update after I continue with the next episodes.

[arniechow]

1 hour ago, Don Yu said:

Anyone? Please, that's a beautiful song I like to listen more on it's own.

I think the singer is Zhou Shen

[arcchidus]

Is it just me or is there way too much slow mo in action scenes? I almost can't watch the scenes because of the slow mo.

[chipz03]

Joining in for my impressions:

 

 

I am very much liking this version. As others mentioned, I am also not a big fan of the excessive use of slow motions for their fight choreography. It is a great pity since I personally find the fight scenes without the slo mo interesting. I feel the fight choreography were unique. Some can feel less polished which make them more natural for me. I have not seen some of the movements in other wuxia series before (again, personal opinions from a casual viewers who enjoy wuxia series here ).

 

 

But aside from the disappointingly excessive slo mo fight scenes, I am loving the other aspects of this series and the pros outweigh the con of slow motion overuse for me:

Spoiler

1. The pace for me is quite right.  Not too draggy but they also spend some times to explore story lines for side characters as have been mentioned before.  

 

 

2. I love that the series decided to develop the bonds between little wuji with his Wudang grand sifu and uncles.  The scenes are very heartwarming, make me feel the deep bonds between them.  It can also potentially set up more believable reasons as to why Wuji absolutely refuse to fight his uncles when they meet again for the first time, or why Wuji really want to protect Wudang when Zhao Min and her entourage try to trick the Wudang's disciples by pretending to be him and force them to share their kungfu, or his resolution to cure his 3rd and 6th uncles.

 

 

3. I also love the brotherhood among Wudang heroes. Their reaction when they saw their 5th brother died,  and their anger that push them to stand ready to fight the other sect members near their brother's body, even the usually calm Song Yuanqiao were truly touching. I like each of the characters as well: from the calm and mature Song YuanQiao to the 6th and 7th with their youthful exuberance. Very interested to see how this childlike and cheerful Yin Liting will turn to be when he know his betrothed was killed by her teacher, his injury,  and his eventual interaction with Buhui. Making it also harder and sadder when Mo Shenggu died 

 

 

4. As mentioned before,  I feel the cinematography and scenes, settings and even the visual effects were great for a television series. There were flaws of course,  but overall I like what I've seen. The most stand out for me is during the scene when Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu died.  Very tragic, beautiful, and also eerie at the same times. I also love the settings and props they used. They look clean and bright without being garish and over the top. Wudang had the best setting/visual effect for me as they look very spacious and cool.  The lighting/ tone is just nice,  not too bright but not too sombre either.  Pleasing to the eyes. 

 

 

5. The actors and actresses were also very pleasing to be watched.  Even the side characters gave more than decent performances. Kudos to the child actors and actresses. They did wonderfully, especially child Wuji.

 

 

6. One of my favorite Zhang sanfeng.  He exude that aura of a venerable leader of a well-known sect but at the same time,  this zsf also act as a loving teacher who knows his students well (hence the loyalty and love from his disciples). More importantly, he also display a deep care toward wuji, making him so adorably like a grandfather. I also like that he doesn't harbor deep prejudice and wise. Really adorable all in all. 

 

 

7. I am also glad that they provide more emotions in many of the characters, like Miejue shitai. Even the healer in the butterfly valley was not that annoying, when he allow wuji to learn about healing techniques with his manuals or something.

 

I gotta to confess that this is the first time I did not skip that much during watching, and this even include sitting through the painful slow-motion kungfu  . I even watched the butterfly valley plot. Usually I am the least interested in this part of the story 

Soo... I have watched up until 10, and so far I enjoy the series very much.  Other plus factors negate the cons of slow motion action sequences for me. Looking forward for more episodes to come, especially when Zhao Min finally appear. She is always my favorite character: smart, witty, even cunning but i feel deep down she is quite righteous (for her situation) and actually has a kind heart. She is very secure of herself and also very brave in chasing what she wants,  even when she was stuck in the middle of fights Between her own dynasty and those who were against it. 

 

 

My personal opinion all, some might not be accurate but this is what I feel when I watch the series. Crossing my fingers for the remaining episodes (and some futile hopes that they tone down the slow mo ).  Peace all!!

 

P.S. I hope I did not triple post my messages. If so, very sorry folks.

[tothestars]

23 minutes ago, chipz03 said:

Joining in for my impressions:

 

 

I am very much liking this version. As others mentioned, I am also not a big fan of the excessive use of slow motions for their fight choreography. It is a great pity since I personally find the fight scenes without the slo mo interesting. I feel the fight choreography were unique. Some can feel less polished which make them more natural for me. I have not seen some of the movements in other wuxia series before (again, personal opinions from a casual viewers who enjoy wuxia series here ).

 

 

But aside from the disappointingly excessive slo mo fight scenes, I am loving the other aspects of this series and the pros outweigh the con of slow motion overuse for me:

  Reveal hidden contents

1. The pace for me is quite right.  Not too draggy but they also spend some times to explore story lines for side characters as have been mentioned before.  

 

 

2. I love that the series decided to develop the bonds between little wuji with his Wudang grand sifu and uncles.  The scenes are very heartwarming, make me feel the deep bonds between them.  It can also potentially set up more believable reasons as to why Wuji absolutely refuse to fight his uncles when they meet again for the first time, or why Wuji really want to protect Wudang when Zhao Min and her entourage try to trick the Wudang's disciples by pretending to be him and force them to share their kungfu, or his resolution to cure his 3rd and 6th uncles.

 

 

3. I also love the brotherhood among Wudang heroes. Their reaction when they saw their 5th brother died,  and their anger that push them to stand ready to fight the other sect members near their brother's body, even the usually calm Song Yuanqiao were truly touching. I like each of the characters as well: from the calm and mature Song YuanQiao to the 6th and 7th with their youthful exuberance. Very interested to see how this childlike and cheerful Yin Liting will turn to be when he know his betrothed was killed by her teacher, his injury,  and his eventual interaction with Buhui. Making it also harder and sadder when Mo Shenggu died 

 

 

4. As mentioned before,  I feel the cinematography and scenes, settings and even the visual effects were great for a television series. There were flaws of course,  but overall I like what I've seen. The most stand out for me is during the scene when Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu died.  Very tragic, beautiful, and also eerie at the same times. I also love the settings and props they used. They look clean and bright without being garish and over the top. Wudang had the best setting/visual effect for me as they look very spacious and cool.  The lighting/ tone is just nice,  not too bright but not too sombre either.  Pleasing to the eyes. 

 

 

5. The actors and actresses were also very pleasing to be watched.  Even the side characters gave more than decent performances. Kudos to the child actors and actresses. They did wonderfully, especially child Wuji.

 

 

6. One of my favorite Zhang sanfeng.  He exude that aura of a venerable leader of a well-known sect but at the same time,  this zsf also act as a loving teacher who knows his students well (hence the loyalty and love from his disciples). More importantly, he also display a deep care toward wuji, making him so adorably like a grandfather. I also like that he doesn't harbor deep prejudice and wise. Really adorable all in all. 

 

 

7. I am also glad that they provide more emotions in many of the characters, like Miejue shitai. Even the healer in the butterfly valley was not that annoying, when he allow wuji to learn about healing techniques with his manuals or something.

 

I gotta to confess that this is the first time I did not skip that much during watching, and this even include sitting through the painful slow-motion kungfu  . I even watched the butterfly valley plot. Usually I am the least interested in this part of the story 

Soo... I have watched up until 10, and so far I enjoy the series very much.  Other plus factors negate the cons of slow motion action sequences for me. Looking forward for more episodes to come, especially when Zhao Min finally appear. She is always my favorite character: smart, witty, even cunning but i feel deep down she is quite righteous (for her situation) and actually has a kind heart. She is very secure of herself and also very brave in chasing what she wants,  even when she was stuck in the middle of fights Between her own dynasty and those who were against it. 

 

 

My personal opinion all, some might not be accurate but this is what I feel when I watch the series. Crossing my fingers for the remaining episodes (and some futile hopes that they tone down the slow mo ).  Peace all!!

 

P.S. I hope I did not triple post my messages. If so, very sorry folks.

 

Good review! I also like how they emphasize more in bonding between little WuJi and WuDang brothers and the master in Butterfly Valley, also like the chemistry between Yin SoSo and Zhang CuiSan.

 

That lil WuJi is really like adult WuJi right? So resemble, like his mini version of Joseph Ceng LOL, while the hmmm older lil WuJi is not that resemble with adult WuJi, but he is also good!

 

So far I still skip here and there since i need engsub, sadly. I also love the OSTs!! Hopefully they can release the official mv for each song.

[Don Yu]

I wish on the island Yin SuSu and Zhang ChiShan had ONE extra romantic scene. It felt weird that there wasn't one. Maybe they have it cut for running time reason.

[hot_hot1975]

Where are y’all watching this drama? YouTube blocked from USA so can’t watch it.  

[arniechow]

I think you can search from youtube (might want to search using the Chinese or Vietnamese title).  I noticed there are several  channels  that uploaded the series.. Might want to watch faster though as many of them were blocked after some time. 

[arniechow]

After watching ep 12, I can say this is definitely my favourite version so far (although still annoyed with the slow motion ).

 

Both the young actors who played Wuji did a really great job. Heck even Abbess  Miejue showed more emotion here ( she always come across as heartless  in previous versions ).

 

Yang Xiao in this series is the best from all other version I watched . Looking forward to more episodes next week. 

[Don Yu]

 

[tothestars]

3 hours ago, rhaps said:

I havent watched this properly, just randomly watched some parts. Since the original story is basically the same, it's not hard to follow this one. Little Wujis are all cute. The mature ZWJ kinda looked too healthy for a supposed to be sickly ZWJ . Still, he looked great, though. 

 

I've only watched one fighting scene (Yang Xiao in epi 12), and I agree that they overdid it with the slow motions. Too bad, coz the fighting choreography looked great . They should reduce that in the future. 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

The drama omits the part when ZWJ cures the concubine of Kunlun sect's leader. I wonder why, because it is supposed to show the evilness of some good sect and it will be revealed later in the battle in the Ming sec. Well, it's still okay, though ..since it wont effect too much to the storyline. 

 

 

 

 

Ah yeah you are correct, i have something bug in my mind when adult WJ finally appeared in the forest, he look good, and now i realized how come he so fat and healthy.

 

About the fighting scenes with too many Slo-Mo, the director heard about this and gave postive respond on his weibo. Joseph Cheng also respond. Hopefully they will improve it, but doesnt it mean they have to edit the CGI?

 

 

 

[ildiz]

Preview 13

Preview 14

Preview 15

Preview 16

 

[Don Yu]

WuJi is very smart!

[tothestars]

Article of HSDS 2019

 

https://www.jaynestars.com/news/too-many-slow-mo-scenes-for-the-new-heavenly-sword-and-dragon-slaying-sabre/

[Don Yu]

Episode 11 is AWESOME!!!

[40somethingahjumma]

Oooh, ooh! I like the look of this one already... just having taken a peek at the first episode. 

I'm going to be a contrarian and say I don't mind the slo-mo  because at least I get to see some martial arts. I especially enjoyed the Frank Miller style angles.

 

If there is a weakness that I'm seeing at this early stage, it's the martial arts. It's fairly basic, run-of-the-mill stuff, not as spectacular or showy... although I did like the water wheel sequence. I imagine that's why there's all the slo-mo to make up for the lack of impact.

 

Loved the part when Dad meets Mum on the boat... The acting was good especially from the chappie who plays Zhang Cuishan... he was entranced right off the bat.  Well, he doesn't get out much too and they all practically live like monks.

 

I have a really good feeling about this one...